*Perspiring*

Wow, time has really flown these past two+ weeks, been crazy crazy, and now that I have a little free time, I figure I should update a bit, lol, seeing how it has been forever since the last time.

so, after miso, we headed of to port chester to help out with a summer camp the called "Salesian summer Daze", where we split up into groups and basically just interacted with the kids, holy smokes were we kept busy, thankfully every other day we also did other activities, for instance we went to the U.N. building for some talks on the role they played in the world, (where it turns out that the salesians have a Representative since they are considered the primary source of expertise on street children and gang prevention), and received a special guided tour, (check out my facebook profile for a very "revolutionary" picture, lol) as well as several talks about salesian spirituality and the like, not to mention that I think I have walked Manhattan end to end at least 7 times, lol.
we had 1 free day, so a few of us decided to head to the beach and take a swim, and compared to Washington's beaches, NY's was somewhat warm, HOWEVER....They CHARGE for admission to EVERY beach!! whats up with that? Coming from the west coast, where the beach is considered everybody's property (for the most part) this was a major shock.

Anyways, so that week went by quite quickly, and if it is any indication as to how the days are going to be passing in Ethiopia, I think this next year will will just fly by.

so, from there, I went on retreat with the rest of my fellow salesians to stoning point, NY, for a week long retreat.
This was a nice change of pace, to go from rushing around like mad peoples, to sitting serene like monks, lol, we had morning prayers at 8:00, followed by breakfast, then usually a talk or a prayer activity, which led right into mass, continued on with lunch, followed by more talks and discussions, which broke for an adoration holy hour, and then the talks and activities went on until evening prayer, which was followed by dinner, which the rest of the night usually somewhat free.

It is amazing how much bonding can happen over such a short time, I went from not knowing a thing about my fellow missioner's, to them becoming deep friends, I think a great deal of the reason why we have been able to grow so close is that we all have a common goal and cause which we are striving for, and I can't help but think this is what soldiers experience as they prepare for battle.
One thing is for certain, as we split up to go our separate ways, there was definitely a ache in my heart, because I know that, for whatever reason, I might not ever see some of these friends again, thankfully we didn't all brake up at once, about a third of us went back to port chester to wait for our flights, so the goodbyes were a little bit easier.

I can't believe it has been more than a month already, and by this time 2 days and several thousand miles from now I'll be in the heart of Africa.
Well, I have about 12 hrs left before I have to leave for my flight, so I thought I would try to go see the Museum of Natural history before I left, maybe catch a movie as well, so if I can i am going to post another entry later today, but if I don't get around to it, this will be my last entry from the USA, (and Hopefully not my last one period) So wish me luck and keep me in your prayers.